S26 Week 1 Update: It Begins
The opening salvo of an artillery barrage, the first shot of a gunfight, the whisper of steel drawn from a scabbard~ these are the sounds of today. And soon those sounds will rise to a cacophony. Welcome to week one of the San Diego 40k Big League! In Pod 1, familiar faces stake their early claims. Tre O'Rourke’s World Eaters did what he wasn’t able to do last season~ take on Neil Braden’s Space Wolves. His victory has put him in the top spot and he’s followed closely by Jake Jesionowski’s Grey Knights. This Pod is an interesting mix of Imperial factions with a couple of chaos armies thrown in. Two Grey Knights and two Space Wolves are joined by Adepta Sororitas, Adeptus Custodes, Death Guard, and World Eaters making for a Xenos free Pod~ much as the Emperor intended.
Evan Berry’s Black Templars have claimed the top of the spire in Pod 2 with two wins and a loss. With a solid list of punters in Pod 2, that loss will come back to haunt him. When considering the factions, Pod two is really diverse. Black Templars, Blood Angels, and Astra Millitarum hold the imperial line while Death Guard, Thousand Sons, and World Eaters sally forth from the Warp. Drukhari and Tyranids represent the Xeonos in the Pod getting ready to be the spoilers.
No action yet in Pod 3 but a quick look at the factions shows a similarly diverse bag (with one exception). Chaos Demons, Adeptus Custodes, Thousand Sons, Space Wolves, and Blood Angels bring interest to the Pod. They’re joined by three Tau factions! I guess we know where Commander Farsight is spending his time. Hans Lieber’s Death Guard has taken the top of Pod 4 with a couple of early wins. There are no faction duplicates in this Pod making it a fun mini-meta. This pod is made up of Death Guard, Imperial Knights, Chaos Demons, Astra Militarum, Tyranids, Blood Angels, Orks, and Drukhari.
It’s all quiet on the Pod 5 front with no games yet played, but when the guns start firing it’s going to be interesting. Here we see Tyranids, Adeptus Mechanicus, Chaos Knights, Dark Angels, Heretic Astartes, T'au, Drukhari, and Space Wolves making up a really diverse field. Three Drukhari factions in the league makes me feel all warm and fuzzy (in a Drukhari way). Zachary Fullerton’s Thousand Sons have put a hex on the top spot in Pod 6 with an early win. This Pod is where the Imperial Guard is apparently planning on making gains with three players bringing Astra Militarum. They’ll be facing Thousand Sons, Heretic Astartes, Dark Angels, and Chaos Knights.
I am so happy that our league has grown to seven Pods this time around and even more happy to see that it’s off to a strong start with 20% of their games played already. The Thunderdome is always a bruising place and I am happy to see it open again. Jacob Bain’s Necrons have claimed the Pod as a tomb world with two wins and a loss this week. This Pod has ever been a pit fighter’s paradise so I don’t expect a loss to hold anyone back. Ryan Navigato’s World Eaters are in second place. The rest of the Pod is made up of Adepta Sororitas, Astra Militarum, Adeptus Mechanicus, Necrons, Tyranids, and Black Templars.
There is so much going on right now and I wanted to make sure everyone is up to date. First, if you’re still having trouble figuring out how our league works, please feel free to reach out to me or Coop Guice. Second, if you’re headed to Palm Spring Open this weekend I am sending you the best Drukhari positive vibes I can (I hope you got your list in). Third, if you love Narrative events and are looking for something awesome, check out the narrative event, Return to Persephone, at SoCal Open in October. A bunch of us at the Big League SD are running it and it’s gonna be awesome. If you like monster team events, the crew at Frontline Gaming are running an eight player team event also. Check out everything happening in our local scene on our website at https://sd40k.com/league-calendar. Finally, I have the Purity Seals for this past league almost complete and I’ll put them on the Leaderboard this week.
In the meantime, remember, Victory is achieved through mettle. Glory is achieved through metal.